The present invention relates to the digital imaging arts. It finds particular application in conjunction with embedding at least one digital image, such as a digital watermark or logo, within another digital image, and will be described with particular reference thereto. However, it should be appreciated that the present invention may also find application in conjunction with other types of digital imaging systems and applications where embedding hidden information in a digital image is desirable.
Given the finite bandwidth of most digital communication channels, it is desirable to incorporate as much information or data as possible into a digital image. Further, with private, corporate, and governmental interest in the information super-highway (i.e. Internet, World Wide Web, etc.) growing exponentially, there is a strong need to protect copyrighted materials that are embodied as digital images. In particular, there is a need to embed within a digital image, some indica of ownership in order to secure for the owner the benefits afforded under the Copyright laws. Thus, regardless of how often a digital image is electronically copied or transferred, each digital copy should have embedded therein some indicia of ownership of the digital image.
Also, with the advent of image editing software, the ability to manipulate or otherwise alter a digital image on a pixel by pixel basis is readily available. Thus, there is a strong need to be able to authenticate a digital image in order to determine whether or not the digital image has in fact been altered in some way.
Accordingly, it has been considered desirable to develop a new and improved method for combining at least two separate digital images into a single combined digital image with minimum loss of image quality, which meets the above-stated needs and overcomes the foregoing difficulties and others while providing better and more advantageous results.